Handle for coffins



(No Modei.) v

H. W. MORGAN.

HANDLE FOR. OOFPINS.

No. 354,802. Patented Dec. 21, 1886.

UNITED STATES PATENT CE TCE,

HUBERT W. MORGAN, OF MERIDEN, ASSIGNQR TO ALBERT MATHEWSON,

' OF ENFIELD, CONNECTICUT.

HANDLE FOR COFFINS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354,802, dated'December21, 1886.

Application filed June 23, 1886. Serial No. 205,983. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUBERT W. MORGAN, of Meriden, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Casket- Handles, of which the following is aspecification and description.

The object of my invention is to overcome the serious objectionsincident to the use of the strap or clasp arm which has necessarily beenused on solid bar handles, and to provide a casket-handle which isdurable and strong, and at the same time attractive in appearance, andwhose main bar portion (preferably made of wood) possesses all theadvantages, both in use and appearance, of a handle made solid or in onepiece, and Whose pendent arm, which is secured to the bar, may have asolid endless ring madethereon to receive the bar, and therefore be muchstronger than when the arm is made with a metal strap to be bent aroundthe bar and the two parts of the strap merely held together by a screw;and I accomplish this by the construction hereinafter described, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

. which-- Figure 1 is a side view of the bar portion of the handle,preferably made of wood, turned to receive the tubular ornamented endpieces or shells, with one of the latter in side view be low the bar.Fig. 2 is a side viewof the bar with one half its length uncovered, andshowing the ornamented tubular shell fitted thereon ready to be coveredor platted, but with the inner end of the shell partially broken away atits inner end, and showing the bar inside, and the other half of thehandle platted or covered with a textile fabric, and with the metal armin place thereon but partially broken away to show its position over thejoint in the bar; and Fig. 3 is a side view of a portion of one of thesolid-arms to receive the covered bar, and in whose ring the bar issecured.

In the drawings, Zrepresents the bar, which may be turned from a singlesolid piece of wood, with its end portions, a, turned smaller than themiddle portion, and with an annular shoulder at 12; or the whole lengthof the bar may be turned of the size shown at a, and the larger middleportion maybe turned from a separate larger piece of wood and bored outto fit snugly upon the middle portion of the bar, and the extreme endsof the bar are turned still smaller in diameter, as shown at 4 in Figs.1 and 2.

The interior of the end pieces or shells, 5, are bored out, as'shownclearly at 6, for their entire length, to fit snugly upon thecorresponding end portions, a, of the bar, and the ext-eriors of theseshells 5 are turnedof any desired ornamental form, and of largerdiameter near the end than the largest diameter of the part 2 of thebar. The whole length of the shells 5 is equal to the same length as theend portions, a, of the bar, and the exterior diameter of the shells 5at their smaller end portions is of the same diameter as the exteriordiameter of the portion 2 of the bar.

The end of each part a of the bar is inserted into the bore of the shell5, and the latter is forced onto the part at until its small end abutsagainst the shoulder 12 of the bar. The latter, with the shells inplace, is then placed in a platting-machine, and the exterior of thewhole handle (the large part of the bar 2 and the shells 5) is coveredor platted with a textile fabric in the same manner in which whips areplatted. The handle is then removed from the platting-machine, and theplatting is quickly severed with asharp knife at the j oint made'by thesmaller end of one of the tubular shells 5 withthe correspondingshoulder, 12, and the platted shell 5 is then removed from the bar, andthe latter is inserted through thering 10 of each arm 9. The removedshell 5 is then replaced on the bar, and'the rings 1 0 are placed, oneupon and to cover the joint at one shoulder 12 and the other to coverthe other shoulder, and a screw is inserted through thering and alsothrough the inner end of each shell 5 and intothe' bar, whicheffectually secures each shell in place on the bar, so that it cannotbecome detached, and also secures the ring 10 in place over the joint atthe shoulder 12.

If the handles were made of one solid piece of wood, pieces ofsufficient length for the whole handle would be required, and of thediameter of the largest part-of the handle, which would be comparativelyexpensive, and

instead of an arm having a solid ring, 10, a

strap-armthat is, an arm having avdivided ring to be opened and passedaround the bar and closed again and secured by a screw would have to beused. The objection to that device is that it is weak and is very liableto break if subjected to extraordinarily sudden and heavy strains,whereas this device is very strong, and the bar made as above describedis as strong and substantial as asolid bar, and the tubular shells 5cannot be detached from the bar when once secured without removing thescrew. By this construction I am enabled to use up smaller and lessexpensive pieces of wood (as the wood portion of the handles forms noinconsiderable portion of the expense in the manufacture ofcasket-handles when carried on on a large scale) than could be used inmaking the bar and its ornamented ends or shells from one solid piece ofwood, as I only require one piece of the same length and diameter asthat of the bar 2, and the shells are made from any short pieces of thesame length and diameter as that of the shells themselves. After theshells are in place on the parts a of the bar and the arm-rings aresecured in place, a metal or silvered tip, 13, is placed on each extremeend 4, and the handleis complete.

Although the bar 2 may be formed by two piecesthe larger and shortmiddle portion Having thus described my invention, what 0 I claim as newis l An improved casket-handle consisting of the combination of the bar2and the tubular shells 5, fitted upon the outer portions of the bar, andboth the shells and the bar covered or platted with a textile fabric,and pendent arms each having a solid ring, 10, secured to and upon thecovered bar and the shell at each end of the bar, substantially asdescribed.

HUBERT W. MORGAN.

Witnesses:

ALBERT H. MATHEWSON, WILLIS GowDY.

